Bad News For RIM: Only 150,000 Torches Sold At Launch?

RIM needed a hit, and the data increasingly indicate that the Blackberry Torch is not that. While 150,000 units sold is nothing to sneeze at, and RIM’s overall sales are still strong, I can smell their decaying brand from here. When your next big thing is outsold by your biggest competitor by more than 10 to 1, it’s time to get serious.

I was never a fan of the Torch, and it seems that consumers don’t really see much in the way of compelling features, either. OS 6 looks… better, but they’re playing catch-up and anyone looking to buy a smartphone will recognize some of these “new” features from phones two or three years old. It probably doesn’t help that some of these phones have prominent displays adjacent to the Torch’s at AT&T stores.

Maybe the price cut (update: not a cut) will help boost sales, but such a rapid and drastic response reeks of desperation, and customers may not respond well to it.

iPhone 4 Screen not So Hard

Apple compares it to a helicopter windshield but a Sydney iPhone repair shop has disputed the company's claims that the iPhone 4's glass is 30 times harder than plastic and less prone to breakage, after the first broken model came through his door.

New owners will want to be careful as dropped phones are not covered under warranty and repair costs are significantly higher than for the iPhone 3GS.

A 22-year-old Monash University IT student from Melbourne, Steven, who did not want his surname revealed, bought the iPhone 4 on Friday, the day it was released. But within hours, he had dropped it on concrete and smashed the screen after the 9.3mm thin device slipped out of his hands while he was carrying too many things.

"I was pretty shattered - when I dropped it I just didn't want to use it anymore, went straight back to my BlackBerry," said Steven.

Steven sent it inter-state to Alex McCredie, director of Fixpod in Sydney, after hearing it had a good reputation for repairs. McCredie, who estimates the phone will cost $199 to repair, said it was clear the iPhone 4 was just as, if not more fragile as the previous models.

"We received our first iPhone 4 screen repair request the day after it was released. It was not unexpected, given that the iPhone 4 does not have the protective chrome bezel around the screen that the earlier models have, and has glass on the front and back," McCredie said.

He provided photos showing the damage on dropped iPhone 4 models follows a similar pattern to previous versions.

McCredie said repairs of dropped phones were not covered by Apple under warranty and that the $199 repair cost was more expensive than the iPhone 3G and 3GS. A screen repair on those models was around $129.

"Repairs are likely to remain more expensive than for iPhone 3G and 3GS as the front glass and touch sensor are laminated to the LCD and cannot be replaced separately," he said.

"This will make for a clearer screen however, as dust won't be able to get between the front glass and the LCD."

On its website, Apple talks up the "aluminosilicate glass" used in the iPhone 4, which it says is the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains.

"Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever," Apple says.

Steven described this claim as a "load of crap".

BlackBerry 9800 Torch Unveiled

Research in Motion has launched the BlackBerry 9800, a touch-screen phone with slide-out Qwerty keyboard that it hopes will rival Apple’s iPhone.

Research in Motion, the Canadian company behind the BlackBerry range, said the BlackBerry 9800, also known as the BlackBerryTorch, was its “best BlackBerry ever”.

The device, unveiled at a press conference in New York, combines a touch-screen interface with a slide-out version of the Qwerty keyboard for which BlackBerrys are famed. It runs the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which offers a better web browsing experience and integrated social features to make it easier for BlackBerry users to keep up with friends in their social network.

A universal inbox combines instant messages from the device’s BlackBerry Messenger tool with updates from social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and Windows Live.

Text within web pages will be automatically reformatted and magnified to make it easier to read on the Torch’s 3.2in screen, while photos, music and contacts can be wirelessly synchronised between the phone and a computer.

Research in Motion also gave more details about the BlackBerry 6 operating system. The new platform boasts universal search across the entire device, as well as allowing users to flick through album art and photographs in a way that is reminiscent of CoverFlow on the iPhone and iPod touch.

And App World, BlackBerry’s application store, will also be pre-installed on devices running BlackBerry 6, making it easier for BlackBerry users to find and install apps on their device. Many older BlackBerry phones will be able to download and run the new operating system.

“This platform is the outcome of Research in Motion’s ongoing passion to deliver a powerful, simplified and optimised user experience for both touch-screen and keyboard fans,” said Mike Lazaridis, co-chief executive of Research in Motion.

Some industry experts likened the Torch to the Palm Pre, a mobile phone that boasted an innovative user interface and integrated social stream, and which won critical acclaim despite relatively modest sales.

“BlackBerry 6 is cool, but it doesn’t offer much that we haven’t already seen elsewhere,” said Michael Gartenberg, an influential mobile phone analyst.

Other experts said the Torch, and the new-look operating system, could help BlackBerry to retain its market position, and fend off the growing threat posed by Apple’s iPhone and the new generation of Google Android smartphones. Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system and cutting-edge handsets could also challenge Research in Motion’s dominance of the smartphone market.

“The BlackBerry 6 operating system provides a much-needed boost to the user interface and browser,” said Ben Wood, an analyst with CCS Insight. “It helps Research in Motion to narrow the gap on its rivals.”

The launch of the BlackBerry Torch comes at the end of a difficult week for Research in Motion, in which both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates banned the use of BlackBerry phones because of “security concerns”.

The UAE said that it would block BlackBerrys from sending and receiving emails, accessing the internet, and sending instant messages, while Saudi Arabia confirmed that it, too, would block the BlackBerry Messenger service. While the BlackBerry’s security features are popular with businesses and organisations that need to send sensitive information, some governments are concerned it could also be used to carry out conversations of an illegal or subversive nature, circumventing monitoring systems that have been put in place.

Research in Motion issued a statement to customers, stressing that it respected “both the regulatory requirements of government” and the “security and privacy needs of corporations and consumers”.

“While we do not disclose confidential regulatory discussions that take place with any government, we assure our customers that we are committed to delivering highly secure and innovative products that satisfy the needs of both customers and governments,” said the company.